Thursday, May 18, 2017

Former high school staffer denies she had sex with student

A former high school education assistant accused of having sex with a student denied the allegations and proclaimed her innocence in court Wednesday.

Sheryl Ann Dyck, 44, took the stand in her own defence, testifying she never had sex, did drugs or drank with a 16-year-old student at Elmwood High School who she was responsible for supervising.

"I’ve never touched him in any way," she said.

Dyck is accused of one count of sexual exploitation for alleged abuse that happened when the teen was 16 and 17 years old, while Dyck was working as a teacher's aide at the school in 2014.

She is accused of buying the teen alcohol and doing drugs with him outside of school hours between March and October 2014, which was Dyck's sixth year as an educational assistant at the high school. In a statement to police, the teen said Dyck had sexual intercourse with him on his 17th birthday.

During her testimony Wednesday, the married mother of three said that never happened, contrary to previous testimony from the complainant, as well as his mother and his sister, who told court they were aware of a sexual relationship between Dyck and the teen.

"Why would these people say these things about you?" defence lawyer Gisele Champagne asked her client.

"I think that they’re ruthless people. They’re gang-affiliated," Dyck replied. "I… had authority, and I had to tell him what to do. He got angry. He didn’t like that." (more...)